The NBA in China- How to

RUNNING HEAD-‐ THE NBA IN CHINA: HOW TO MAXIMIZE INTERNATIONAL PROFITS 1

The NBA in China: How to Maximize International Profits

Travis Malott

San Diego State University

May 11, 2015

B.A. Economics and International Studies


Introduction

The National Basketball Association has become a global brand behemoth that isn’t

to be meddled with. Created in 1946, it’s still considered a new association, years younger

than its American professional sport siblings, the NFL, MLB, and NHL. Basketball fans are

generally found in the United States, but being the fastest growing sport on earth today, its

international fandom presence is beginning to be felt. “With 30 teams in the United States

and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 214 countries in 43

languages via 157 telecasters;” they are one of the largest suppliers of sports television and

internet programming in the world (Cheong 2005, p.2). Thus, research on such an emergent

sport in an expanding country seems inevitable, in this case, the NBA in China. China has

seen a spike of fandom towards the NBA in the last decade, and today has obtained the

attention of nearly 70 million viewers, which giants the 400,000 Chinese viewers that the

NFL captures. China being, “the most populous nation on earth, with 1.3 billion people” in

comparison to United States’ 284 million, demonstrates the need to apprehend such a

massive population of individuals that make up a large part of the world (LaFleur 2003 p. 4).

The potential here is skyscraping, yet it waits in broad daylight leaving Americans

befuddled by the towering silhouette in front of them. The NBA took a step backwards when

they found themselves in the 2011 lockout, the fourth lockout the NBA has bequeathed upon

the public, but three years later it’s worth taking a look at the global economic impacts the

2011 lockout could have made. In addition, newly designated NBA Commissioner Adam

Silver holds a global vision that reaches out as far as the Asian markets. This investigation is

not only to try and discover possibilities that rest in the Middle Kingdom, but rather answer


why they are even there in the first place, and how The National Basketball Association can

make the most of these international waters.

The research question chosen for this study is as follows; what is the most economical

direction for the National Basketball Association to take in order to broaden its global brand

name to the Chinese basketball fandom market, with the intent of maximizing its

international profits?

Pre-departure Methodology

Participants

It is anticipated that ages across the board would make for the most usable data.

Participants should be 18-60 years of age, born and raised Chinese citizens. They should be

a mixture of basketball fans and people who simply don’t care. To ensure unbiased results,

sex should be split down the middle, and identities should remain unanimous. The desired

amount of surveys collected is 40, or 45 to be safe.

Materials

-80 printed surveys and carrying portfolio

-Writing utensils

-Willing participants

Procedure


For a research project of a topic such as this, a quantitative analysis method is most

appropriate. Quantitative data collection seemed most efficient, and was chosen as the

primary source of research. For the bulk of the information retrieved in China, a survey

consisting of approximately 20 questions will ensure the least biased results. The survey will

allow specific questions to be asked that have been prepared for this study, questions

designed to lead to the most effective marketing techniques in both America and China, and

maximizing profits in both markets. Correlation data is most efficiently collected through

quantitative methods, and it will break down the language barrier many run into when

performing a research project overseas. If any ambiguities are found in the first couple

surveys, changes will be made for the following participants so that the preferred

information is addressed and misunderstandings are discontinued. It is anticipated that parts

of the survey might not be clear, due to lack of language skills, but with this being expected

it will be easy to detect. This challenge can be hurdled with on the go adjustments that come

from locals and participants.

The data collector’s trip to China begins at Capital Normal University, Beijing. He

will be partaking in the Beijing Language Program for four weeks, practicing Mandarin

Chinese skills, but not wasting any time in the research department. After getting settled in

for three days, it is back to the grind and it begins with making sure the survey is completely

translated and ready for use in China. More than one residential student will be asked to go

over the grammar of the survey, and make sure questions are easy to understand and answer.

This is essential and will raise the accuracy of what the participants are really trying to say.

The next step is data collection, which means handing out surveys. Starting with the college

students surrounding Capital Normal University in the heart of Beijing, it is estimated that


approximately 15 surveys will be fully completed by the end of this week. Surveyed

students can be asked if they can refer the investigator to any near friends for number of

results purposes and simply ease purposes. Because the target demographic isn’t as specified

as college students only, the second week will be more focused on retrieving data from

individuals outside Capital Normal University. Unless recommendations are received of the

best places to find willing middle-aged Chinese citizens to survey, the streets and strangers

will have to do in order to retrieve non-student data. Adjustments should be made by this

time to ensure the best possible survey, with no mistakes. This section might be difficult, so

persistency is key, and anybody would be lucky if fifteen more surveys were filled out by

the end of the week, though it is only expected to finalize ten. This same method should

serve well the third week abroad, only more smoothly and efficiently. Investigator should be

working at an optimal speed, finding themselves with more time on their hands. This allots

for the opportunity to begin looking over filled out surveys for any flaws or unusable

surveys. If this problem arises, adjustments should be made accordingly. Week four will roll

around quickly, and it would be wise to coast to the finish of the first half abroad in China

with ten more surveys completed.

The goal for the four week duration in Beijing, the less rural portion of the data

collection, is 45 surveys completed. As stated earlier, the survey is to be no more than 20

questions, including the socio-demographic questions. It will consist of questions that are

related to the NBA and interest in NBA. They will be premeditated to measure the

difference of attentiveness between entire franchises and single-star players. They will also

cover the importance level of season tickets for the NBA, if it were to expand to China. All


surveying will be done publicly. The main priority is that the location is safe and that the

participant feels comfortable.

Four weeks in, and it’s time to start the second half of the data collection process in

China. In this case, our investigator will be teaching English in rural parts of Beijing. The

Program is called the Summer Service Learning Program and is run through Tsinghua

University, the highest acclaimed University in China. The opportunity to survey local

Chinese on the rural side of the spectrum presents itself and only furthers the study, so

surveys will be handed out willingly, while taking observational side notes. This diversity

expands research and its range of information. The students joining the teaching exhibition

will all be studying at Tsinghua University, and are considered to be the top students China

has to offer at a collegiate level. Surveys are to be completed until there is a total of about 45

surveys, and observational notes on behavior and attitude towards basketball and the NBA

throughout the eight weeks in China.

Research Methodology Actually Used

Participants

It was anticipated that ages across the board would make for the most usable data.

This was not the case in reality, as most consisted of students aged 16-21 residing in rural

Guizhou, China. It proved extremely difficult to get other Chinese citizens involved. Of the

Guizhou students, all of which were born and raised Chinese citizens. They were a mixture

of basketball fans and students who simply didn’t care. To ensure unbiased results, sex was

split down the middle as much as possible, and identities remained unanimous on the


surveys. The amount of surveys collected was 40 Chinese, and 40 American. The American

participants aged ranged from 16-55, landing the desired participants for China. They were

born and raised American citizens. They were a mixture of basketball fans and not fans. To

ensure unbiased results, sex was split down the middle as much as possible, and identities

remained unanimous on the surveys. The American portion of surveyors was on track with

pre-departure requirements.

Materials

-80 printed surveys and carrying portfolio

-Writing utensils

-Willing participants

Procedure

Obtaining data was harder than presumed, and because of this, research methodology

had to be altered. There were a few differences between how research was assumed to be

performed, although luckily many things went according to plan. When the investigator

landed in Beijing, a student was asked at Capital Normal University (who was excellent at

English) to translate the survey into full characters. This proved invaluable, as it served as an

exceptional survey the rest of the trip. All 40 surveys were filled out by students of the

Guizhou high school, and there were no questions regarding the Mandarin Chinese in the

survey. This wasn’t the demographic intentionally sought after, but any data is good data. In

addition, many behavioral notes were taken during the time abroad. The investigator played

basketball with his students during recess, a game that took everyone’s focus on the

blacktop. And during teaching hours, the investigator talked to them about sports and how


interested they are. The information wasn’t numerically usable, but it could be paired with

quantitative data.

The method of gathering data in America is much different. There is more time

available, and more people willing. Without the language barrier, the investigator should

have no time getting 40 surveys completed by a diverse selection of willing participants. The

surveys are exactly the same questions as on the Chinese version. A simple method that

worked in this case was standing on campus and asking if anybody would like to participate.

This saw a great deal of responses and accounted for approximately half the surveys filled

out.

Literature Review

For a long time, sports in China were mainly organized in a way that maximized

their contribution to national prestige (Bardon 2008, p.39). The emergence of a true sports

market is a very recent phenomenon. Tracking the development of China's sports market,

Severine Bardon (2008) explained in ‘The Economics of Sport in China: A Maturing

Sector’, that the sports market might be too risky to attract investors… right now. China is a

blossoming country, and with its maturity comes developing markets, sports being one of

them. Some of the downsides to an immature market is that the chance of failure is

inevitably extremely high. Chinese in-house sports hasn’t seen an explosion in revenue in

the last few decades, which in turn creates a domino effect. “Low revenue is caused by less

attraction to the market”, which then creates less talent to accumulate, lowering revenue

more (Hughson 2007 p.4). This is why there are teams that are constantly bad in one sport,


i.e. The Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s a proven equation and makes digging out of slumps a

challenge. Well, imagine that instead of one team, we’re talking about an entire country’s

sports market, and instead of the NFL were talking about the entire global sports economics.

China just can’t seem to get out of that rut and start making money and creating attention for

their local fans or talent, “China tends to choose sports that are popular abroad in order to

attract international sponsors”, this lack in domestic revenue explains the demand for the

NBA brand (Bardon 2008 pg. 42). Because the sports market in China is still immature, the

investment risk is too high to try to do anything in China’s backyard, and this leads us to the

question, where do we turn? We don’t need to turn, the Chinese already turned to us.

Fandom is a significant element in this equation, or in other words, how big of fans

are the Chinese in relation to Americans? And in what sports? Dr. Sam Kaplan performed an

extensive research project between the two countries, and found some very interesting

information. Through quantitative analysis involving several hundred participants from both

countries, Kaplan found that, “significantly more American participants followed baseball,

American football, golf, ice hockey, tennis and other sports. Significantly more Chinese

participants followed automobile racing and basketball” (Kaplan 2012 p.13). He also points

out that American fans tend to follow certain teams, i.e. the Boston Red sox, New England

Patriots, etc. While China’s fandom seems to be focused more towards certain superstar

players, cue the Kobe Bryant’s, and Derek Rose’s. Essentially, the typical Chinese NBA fan

is lacking a true loyalty towards just one team. This is significant because it might be the

key to exploitation of the Chinese market. A difference this intangible oozes clues of profit

to be made.


Sports participation in China has emerged with new spaces, forms, contents and

concepts. Although elite sport has still been tightly “controlled by the state as a political

instrument, sport and exercise at its roots has become an individual and social activity” as a

new feature in Chinese urban life (Huang 2013 p.12). The Chinese people have “benefited

from increased opportunities and have made great progress in sports participation,”

particularly the increase in basketball playtime (Huan 2007 p.441). More and more Chinese

are playing basketball as a leisure sport, and hoops are popping up at record rates. With this,

basketball awareness has only increased as well.

However, awareness isn’t the only aspect of value. There is a direct correlation

between annual income per capita and willingness to be involved in the sporting industry.

While playing sports and physical activity vary when discussing upper and lower class

differences from sport to sport, one thing holds true; viewing of sports is directly correlated

with social class, and the majority of sports fans lie in the middle class (Huan 2007 p.442).

This has been proven across the world, and is of relevance when discussing the NBA and

China forming a merge. Why? China, as a nation, is experiencing the formation of a middle

class as we speak. Yang (2012) discussed the middle class in China as a “side-effect of its

capitalistic movement” in recent years (p.525). Political transformation has taken place since

the passing of Mao Zedong, and in the span of three decades, China has evolved from an

autarkic and underdeveloped backwater into the world's second largest economy and its

largest trader. The creation of such a powerful labor force and middle class are essential to

sport viewing growth in China’s economy, and will play a major role in the final decision as

to whether the NBA should invest it’s time in such a risky sporting market.


Findings

Being reported in the findings section is the results of the 40 surveys from China and

40 surveys from America. It is 80 in total, but 2 of the surveys from china had unreadable

Mandarin and were considered unusable. All of the surveys given to American participants

had high end anonymity and were considered usable. The survey was 20 questions in total,

and one sheet double sided. Of the 80 people surveyed, it is hoped that the findings answer

the research question stated earlier, and can help whomever needs this research in help of

marketing the National Basketball Association in China. On to the survey format, and

eventually, the results.

Unsurprisingly, the survey began with a couple dichotomous questions that asked

age, sex, education level, and whether or not the participant enjoys watching basketball on

the television. This was so the data could be looked back on, and it could be ensured the

participants covered almost all the demographics being targeted. Sex was less evenly

distributed than wished, with 35% of Chinese participants being female, and 42% of

American participants being female, it seemed as if there weren’t many females interested in

helping in the experiment. In addition to the dichotomous data gathered, a question that

should be pointed out was, “Do you enjoy watching basketball games?” 1 being yes, and 2

being no. The Chinese participants scored an average of 1.21 out of the 38 surveyed. This

trumps the 40 Americans surveyed, who tallied up an average of 1.725, proving the majority

of Americans did not enjoy watching the NBA on TV. Though it is expected that the

averages would be closer, this will probably prove true if more participants are involved.

But if not, this data is valuable as it would support the idea of expanding the NBA, or simply

the TV time across the Atlantic, to the Chinese market.


Next the survey asked a simple multiple choice question, Q9. Who do you think is

the best of these four players? A (1), B (2), C (3), or D (4). The first four are all point guards

in the NBA right now. Stephan Curry, who was crowned the MVP of the NBA in the 2015

regular season, Kyrie Irving, Jeremy Lin, and Deron Williams. The ‘trap’ answer in this

question is Jeremy Lin. A Chinese American who graduated from Harvard. He made a huge

splash in the media in 2013 when he played for the New York Knicks, and started an

epidemic titled ‘Linsanity’. The catch was that he was simply an average player, an

undersized Chinese American, who made up for his lack in physical attributes in

fundamentals, smart basketball, and pure will power. Unfortunately true, anybody who

knows about the NBA will tell you he is now extremely overrated, as he plays for the

Lakers, who are considered one of the worst teams in the NBA and is not even a starter.

Jeremy Lin is the equivalent of Tim Tebow in the NFL, or Keynes in Economics, who has

been disproved multiple times yet still has the majority of the population on his side. So the

desired result with this multiple choice question, are the Chinese viewers of the NBA going

to choose Jeremy Lin based completely on his ethnicity? How much power does the media

hold over many of us? The findings were fascinating. 2/3rds, nearly 66% of the participants

in China selected Jeremy Lin as the best player, even when Stephan Curry was available, the

league’s Most Valuable Player in 2015. For the American participants, 32.5% chose Jeremy

Lin, roughly 1/3rd. This is still too high, and the discussion can be saved for another research

study titled, “Do We Choose our Favorite Athletes, or Does the Media?” The player selected

most by American participants was actually Kyrie Irving, sitting atop at 45%. The next

question, Q10, regarding NBA players had another trap answer for the Chinese participants.

Who is the best? Kareem Abdul Jabar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlin, or Yao Ming? Though


there is no clear answer, it does not matter. What matters is the data. Are the Chinese going

to lean towards Yao Ming? A pattern began to emerge, making a regression analysis

between Q9 (Jeremy Lin) and Q10 (Yao Ming) calculable in regards to our desired results.

Allow the P-value given to be highlighted. At .00000172, this pattern is extremely justified,

and the data is considered significant. Many Chinese are either only aware of, or simply

supportive of their own ethnicity. 87% of the Chinese people sampled believed Yao Ming

was better than Bill Russell (holds 11 championship rings), Wilt Chamberlin (scored 100

points in a game), and Kareem Abdul Jabar (single handedly forced the NBA to enforce a

SUMMARY OUTPUT

Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.241234

R Square 0.058194 Adjusted R

Square 0.032033 Standard

Error 0.789336 Observations 38

ANOVA

df SS MS F Significance

F Regression 1 1.385933 1.385933 2.224428 0.144555

Residual 36 22.42986 0.623052 Total 37 23.81579

Coefficients Standard

Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%

Lower 95.0%

Upper 95.0%

Intercept 3.068345 0.537693 5.7065 1.72E-06 1.977853 4.158837 1.977853 4.158837 X Variable 1 -0.21763 0.145915 -1.49145 0.144555 -0.51356 0.078304 -0.51356 0.078304


goaltending rule, because he was too dominant for the competition of his time). The

significance of this data speaks volumes, and opens a window that could explain how the

NBA can seek to maximize profits abroad if they wish to do so. The Americans surveyed

voted Yao Ming a mere 15%, with the average of all the answers sitting at 2.375, right in the

middle of all 4 options. The Americans were much more all over the board than the

seemingly unanimous decision by the 38 Chinese surveyed.

The next question sampled for four NBA players, and none of them are of the

Chinese ethnicity. Many common players, and keeping to the routine, the survey asked who

is the best; Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James? 66% of the Chinese

said the California hero, Kobe Bryant. The Americans surveyed were skeptical in their

decision, and spread out the answers evenly, with the majority choosing LeBron “The King”

James. As Dr. Kaplan mentioned earlier in his own findings, “American fans tend to follow

certain teams, i.e. the Boston Red sox, New England Patriots, etc. While China’s fandom

seems to be focused more towards certain superstar players, cue the Kobe Bryant’s, and

Derek Rose’s” (Kaplan 2012 p.13).

The rest of the survey is taken in an interval level. Questions 18-21 were formatted

as follows; ‘rate on a scale from 1-5, 1 being strongly disagree, 5 being strongly agree’. The

first question was upfront and asked the participants if they want the NBA to focus its

attention on China more? The results were shocking. The Chinese surveyed had an average

score of 1.52, leaning heavily on the strongly disagree. Even more surprisingly, the

Americans scored higher! With an average of 1.75, this data would suggest that Americans

want the NBA to focus on China more than the Chinese. See figure 1 below.


Figure 1.

The trend line above sits uncomfortably low at 1.5, only showing a slight increase as

participants were surveyed. This is alarming as it could be a hint towards proving that the

NBA should not try to make any profits in China, and that it is a waste of time. The next

interval question was regarding NBA apparel. It asked the surveyor if they were interested in

buying signed jerseys or apparel from the NBA. This way the NBA could make up some of

that lost effort by simply creating a program in which they exploit the wants of the specific

Chinese market. They returned with an impressive average of 3.05 of interest. The American

side scored a 2.3.

In figure 2 below, the more green you see the more interest the Chinese have in

signed apparel. In other terms, the Chinese rated their interest in signed apparel by the NBA

26% higher than the American fans. Something worth looking at in the future.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Degree of Interest

Par.cipants

Chinese on if the NBA Should Focus its Efforts on China


Figure 2.

To help specify all the participants interests, the next question asked ‘1 to 5, are you

interested in role-players that benefit the entire team in the NBA, whether you know their

name or not?’ Chinese average was a 1.65, and the Americans was 2.3. This statistic is very

interesting to me, and it will be discussed why in the next section. Lastly, the investigator

asked if the person being surveyed wanted to see more NBA on their TV. Both the

American’s and the Chinese scored an average of 1.95, agreeing on the amount of NBA they

see on TV being enough. That is great news for the NBA as it means they are not too much

or too little in national broadcasting. They seem to be in that equilibrium of just right

exposure.

The findings above provide insights that are beneficial, but mistakes were made that

could jeopardize the results of this research study. To start, all the Chinese participants

surveyed are 16-20 years old, when my American participants range from 16-50. This is

huge as it changes the wants and needs drastically, and data may be misinterpreted from

China, because it may just be an age difference, not a cultural difference that is observed.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 9

17 25 33

Level of Interest

ParMcipants

Are the Chinese interested in Purchasing Signed Apparel?


Another notable mistake is that the sex differential is not 50/50. And lastly, the questions on

the survey could have been better in determining exactly how to specify a strategy to

maximizing profits in China. Only about 8 of the questions out of the 20 held statistical

value, and more research before departure to China could have allowed little data to go a

long way.

Discussion

Restating of Hypothesis

1.) If jersey sales is related to market-clearing price, then lowering the price of authentic apparel

in order to combat the amount of faux jerseys circulating through the market should increase

sales. The NBA brand in China is already well known, leaving the ball in the NBA’s court

for apparel exploitation. Lowering the price of jerseys and other apparel would bring the

quantity demanded up, bringing the NBA one step closer to equilibrium in the Chinese

market, and minimizing dead weight losses.

2.) The more TV time the NBA can snag in China the better. Because if television broadcasting

is linked to familiarizing the NBA brand with Chinese citizens and consumers, then

exposing China to as much NBA TV coverage as possible will indeed make the NBA more

recognizably preferred over former sport viewing options.

3.) Lastly, if superstar fandom is correlated to NBA product consumption in China, then

broadcasting teams with more popular players such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and

Carmelo Anthony would maximize international profits. In addition to television


broadcasting, autographing and meet and greets in public settings would also increase

demand in the NBA global brand.

After analyzing the data and how it compares to my hypothesis and literature review,

there is some room to discuss. The comparisons between the literature review and data

gathered are proven in the data. Firstly, Dr. Kaplun was spot on in saying that, “American

fans tend to follow certain teams, i.e. the Boston Red sox, New England Patriots, etc. While

China’s fandom seems to be focused more towards certain superstar players, cue the Kobe

Bryant’s, and Derek Rose’s” (Kaplun 2012 p.13). Looking back at questions surveyed that

were multiple choice regarding certain players, this was proven true over and over. Except

this can be taken a step further and it can be concluded that yes, the Chinese preferred stars

over role players much heavier than Americans, but they even preferred Chinese stars over

other star. Focusing more closely on Question 19 which asked ‘1 to 5, are you interested in

role-players that benefit the entire team in the NBA, whether you know their name or not?’

Chinese average was a 1.65, and the Americans was 2.3. The Chinese preference towards

star players over exceptional teamwork is extremely interesting, for cultural reasons. If

anybody travels to China, they will experience both capitalism and communism, but still

mostly communism. Communism stems from the sense of community, and playing roles for

the greater good of a group of people. It could be assumed the Chinese would support the

same ideologies on the basketball court, but it is the complete opposite. They prefer the

superstar, the player who may shoot under 50% after taking 40 shots, but regardless he

scored most the points. In America, viewers tend to prefer the teamwork, the ball passing,

and the spreading out of points. It’s more fundamentally known, and even though it’s more

common to look ahead, American’s are still a classical, reminiscing culture, ‘good –old’


Hoosier basketball is still proof of this. It should be highlighted and considered curious that

our political systems completely mirror each other’s, and so do our basketball fandom, only

oppositely.

As hypothesized and found in other literature such as Bardon S. (2008), Cheong S.

C. (2005, and Huang (2013), “the NBA can and should use this specified obsession to

exploit the Chinese markets” (Huang 2013). In doing so, they will show teams that appeal to

stardom, similar to the NBA today in America, only zero fans in China have a local priority

or inherited fandom, giving the NBA the opportunity of true flexibility. In America, the

NBA has as much control as Russell Wilson with a baseball, which is still an exceptional

amount of control. However, in China, the NBA can act like Russell Wilson with a

football... a perfect match. As much air coverage as the Los Angeles Lakers, New York

Knicks, and L.A. Clippers as possible, with no profit backlash of minor market teams. “With

a clean slate, the National Basketball Association can paint a picture of the fandom they

wish” (Bardon 2008). A powerful strategy would be offering signed apparel by certain

Chinese star players, possibly Chinese themed jerseys signed by them as well, and continue

to have major market teams travel across the pond to play in Beijing and Shanghai.

The first third of the profit maximizing hypothesis was correct, but what about the

second? The data says it was completely wrong. The Chinese participants, whether they

watched the NBA on TV or not, were not interested in increasing its TV time in any way,

shape, or form. The Chinese prefer the small increments they get, and it is possible that is

what makes the sport so appealing. Side note, “the government in China is still in charge of

nearly everything broadcasted on national public television” (Towns K. 2007), so whether

the people want more NBA or not, it might be a harder sale than presumed.


It seemed clear that nobody thought the NBA should focus their efforts towards

China. The American’s don’t want it, and neither do the Chinese. They seem to enjoy

witnessing from afar. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to get in on the signed apparel

action. The survey results suggested that more Chinese than Americans would like to buy

signed apparel by NBA superstars, a market in itself waiting to emerge. This was discussed

in the third section of the hypothesis above, and seems to hold true. It would be an extremely

effective method of enhancing the NBA global brand, and a cheap one as well, who doesn’t

like more bang for your buck?

After the data and results discussed above, hopefully there can be a marketing

comprehension that will help the National Basketball Association in pinpointing just how

they can specialize in the up and coming Chinese demographic. Increasing efficiency, and

decreasing deadweight losses, the research performed has shown some surprises, also

solidified some assumptions, and it’s time for a conclusion in the matter.

Conclusion

The NBA has a good thing going for them. With 70 million people in China

interested enough to view the broadcast regularly, they have a chance at capitalizing on this

opportunity. The question is not whether or not they can; it’s how. What is the most

effective strategy to ensure success, and minimize deadweight losses? After traveling to

China and gathering data that focuses on answering that exact question, there is a multiple of

specific approaches that have been found are strong responses by the general Chinese public

if implemented by the National Basketball Association, as put in more detail below.


Foremost, specificity is huge. As proved via data gathered abroad, the Chinese are

extremely interested in supporting Chinese stars. Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin- they don’t have to

be good, they just have to be Chinese. This can be taken advantage of in a multitude of

ways. Jersey sales for such players should be targeted across major Chinese cities.

Marketing that promotes these player’s teams would also be highly productive. Even flying

certain players out for memorabilia signings could be considered a prolific venture. Adding

the best Chinese players in the CBA to the NBA would be a fruitful investment in the long

run. As the NBA is already doing, teams should continue playing in Beijing, Shanghai, and

Hong Kong multiple times per year, only to further this, the teams chosen should consist of

at least one Chinese super star. This will increase the popularity and a slight rise in TV

broadcast viewership might be a side effect of the process.

As strange as it sounds, another NBA lockout would be beneficial to the NBA for the

Chinese fans. Nearly all of the participants surveyed knew what the NBA lockout was, and

here’s why. When the lockout happened, many players traveled across the pond to find work

elsewhere. Many landed in the Chinese Basketball Association. This rose the level of

interest greatly, and the ripple effect is still being felt today. Pushing as many NBA players

towards the Chinese market as possible seems like it would be a negative thing, but it might

end up actually making the National Basketball Association more money in the down the

road.

And lastly, TV broadcasting does not need to be increased, in China or America. The

people surveyed were very clear about that. Keep in mind that does not mean it is in its most

efficient form as of now. If the NBA only showed major market teams in the Asian region,

they would gain more viewers with less TV time. More value for the money invested. Such


teams include the Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by the Kobe Bryant and newly acquired

Jeremy Lin loving Chinese Market, and the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony. Big

names, big cities, big viewership in little China. American TV broadcasting of the NBA

already has a recipe for success, focusing their efforts on the Playoffs and concentrating on

local broadcasting during regular season.

In Conclusion, the National Basketball Association is seeking a business tactic that

optimizes efforts in the international market of China. After gathering data from both China

and America on the subject, a method for success has been formulated just for this occasion.

From this research project, a lot has been gained regarding people and their attentiveness for

professional basketball. Different cultures have different interests, and in some cases require

different means of deliverance. This holds true when discussing the consumption of a

globally recognized brand such as the NBA. In this case, a different approach to the market

should be taken, even if the viewers are getting the exact same product of entertainment. In

brief, the research, data gathered, findings and information interpretation on the matter, The

National Basketball Association should have an easier time getting over this ‘great wall’ of a

marketing query.


Survey

1.) Age: A. 20-30 C. 41-50 B. 31-40 D. 50+ 2.) Sex: A. Male B. Female 3.) Education Level: A. High School D. College

B. Graduate Degree E. PhD

C. None F. I’d rather not say

4.) Do you play basketball for fun? A. Yes B. No

5.) Have you ever heard of the NBA? A. Yes B. No 6.) Do you enjoy watching basketball games? A. Yes B. No 7.) Which do you enjoy watching more? Chinese Basketball Association or National Basketball

Association? A. NBA B. CBA 8.) Do you own NBA apparel or jerseys?

A. Yes B. No Is the man who gave you this survey in the NBA?

A. Yes B. No

v 9.) Who is the best player out of these four? A. Stephon Curry C. Jeremy Lin

B. Kyrie Irving D. Deron Williams

10.) Who is the best player out of these four?

A. Kareem Abdul Jabar C. Wilt Chamberlin

B. Bill Russell D. Yao Ming

11.) Who is the best player out of these four?

A. Chris Paul C. Kevin Durant

B. Kobe Bryant D. LeBron James

12.) Which team is going to win it all next year?

A. Los Angeles Lakers C. New York Knicks

B. Miami Heat D. Boston Celtics

13.) Where do you think an NBA team would be in China, if there were one?

A. Hong Kong C. Shanghai


B. Beijing D. All of the Above

14.) How much would you be willing to pay for an authentic Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Carmelo Anthony signed jersey, if he signed it right in front of you?

A. 600 Renminbi ($96) C. 1200 Renminbi ($192)

B. 1800 Renminbi ($288) D. 2400 Renminbi ($384)

15.) When did you begin watching the NBA?

A. 1990-1995 B. 1996-2000

C. 2001-2005 D.2006-2010

E.2011-present day F. I’ve never watched the NBA

16.) Do you know what the 2011 NBA Lockout is?

A. Yes! It’s when the Laker’s players, including Kobe Bryant, were locked out of their travel bus, and had to forfeit a playoff game.

B. Yes! It’s when the players and owners couldn’t come to an agreement about how much the players should be paid, and it forced many players to travel overseas in order to make any money playing basketball

C. Yes! It’s when Jeremy Lin was drafted to the New York Knicks, before ‘linsanity’ began.

D. No, I have no idea what the NBA Lockout is.

17.) Is the man who gave you this survey in the NBA?

A. Yes B. No

v On a scale from 1-5, 1 being strongly disagree, 5 being strongly agree: Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

18.) I want the NBA to focus its attention on China more!

1 2 3 4 5

19.) I am interested in buying signed apparel and jerseys from the NBA

1 2 3 4 5

20.) I am interested in role-players that benefit the entire team in the NBA, whether their name is well known or not.

1 2 3 4 5

21.) I want to see more NBA games on Television!

1 2 3 4 5

If answered 3, 4 or 5- do you have a preferred station you’d like to see the games on?


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